Lee, Hu Hammer Out Strategic Partnership
President Lee Myung-bak and Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed to deepen their two countries’ newfangled “strategic cooperative partnership.”A joint statement after their meeting envisages no fewer than 34 ways of cooperation in four categories — politics, economy, human resources and cultural exchanges, and international cooperation. In a press conference, Lee said, “We agreed to expand the bilateral relations, which have so far centered on economic and cultural exchanges, to the political and security sectors. We also agreed to meet more often in the future to exchange views on such issues.”
Hu said the two agreed to pursue their partnership “by strengthening political communications and deepening cooperation in economy and trade.”
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In a bigger meeting, the two sides also agreed to hold the first high-level strategic meeting between the two foreign ministries this year, and to stimulate exchange between ranking defense officials, improve liaison, and seek military exchange and cooperation.
The two leaders also agreed to strengthen consultations and cooperation within the framework of the six-party talks to solve the North Korean nuclear issue, and to press for implementation of phase 2 of the denuclearization process.
They agreed to increase the annual volume of two-way trade to US$200 billion by 2010, two years ahead of the previous target year, and to strengthen cooperation in economy and trade.
Exchanges including tourism were also on the agenda: they designated 2010, the year of Shanghai World Expo, “Visit China Year,” and 2012, the year of Yeosu World Expo, “Visit Korea Year.”
The two countries signed five memorandums of understanding: closer cooperation in the fields of energy conservation, the prevention of desertification, and state-of-art technology; and two agreements on sanitary control on fisheries products and on educational exchange.
Hu leaves Tuesday after meeting the house speaker and the prime minister, attending a seminar on the exchange between organizers of Shanghai Expo and Yeosu Expo, and attending a luncheon hosted by the heads of four employers’ organizations.
Source:
http://english.chosun.com
Tags: 2012 World Expo, CHINA, Expo Shanghai, Expo Yeosu, Expo2010, expo2012, South Korea